


borrow

by michaelnatural (calebwidogast)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Post-Canon Fix-It, canon divergent: this is the good spn in my head.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:34:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29148294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calebwidogast/pseuds/michaelnatural
Summary: dean returns a favor.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 6
Kudos: 49





	borrow

it’s been weeks since they beat chuck. the bunker has been alive with activity since then, with people checking in and sam and eileen working on their newest project- to better connect the hunter community.

dean’s been avoiding it. even with jack’s promise of reworking the afterlife and then finding cas and  _ then _ giving up his god powers, he’s still miserable. cas isn’t here. jack is still doing anxiety-inducing, world-altering things that he and sam can’t help with.

he’s still thinking about it, wearing headphones so he can’t hear when someone walks down the hall, when jack appears at the foot of his bed and dean jumps so badly he nearly knocks over his laptop.

jack laughs, half delight and half apology. he watches dean pulls his headphones off, raises his hand in his signature wave, and says, “hello, dean!”

dean’s heart pinches in his chest and he barrels past it, rolling his eyes instead. “we’ve gotta work on that.”

jack nods and says, “sure. but first i have news.”

“yeah?”

“it’s time to get cas.” he says, his tone easy and certain.

dean feels the air all but evaporate from his lungs. it takes him a second to finally spit out, “w- are you sure? you can do it?”

“yes. and then i’m giving up my powers and things are finally going to be fair.” jack says. “are you ready?”

“ready- what? are we doing this right now?” dean sputters, standing and looking around for his boots, swiping his pistol from under his pillow.

jack says, “oh, no. you aren’t- watch, okay?” and dean stops halfway to the door, turning to see what jack’s talking about.

jack gives him a little crooked, confident smile and then snaps his fingers.

one second where nothing happens stretches into two, then five, then ten.

“uh.” dean says.

“i can… i know it  _ worked _ … he’s supposed to be…” jack starts, closing his eyes and touching his temple like he’s trying to remember something.

dean’s phone rings. he snatches it from his pocket and looks and nearly tears up on principle because it’s cas.

“cas?” he asks as he picks it up.

“dean.” cas’s voice says, sounding exhausted and confused and worried. “you’re still alive.”

dean blinks. “ _ i’m _ still- cas, where the hell are you?”

“i’m, uh…” he takes a moment and dean can almost picture the way he turns on his heel to look. cas surprises him when he chuckles lightly, and then says, “do you remember the first time you ever spoke to me?”

the barn. the barn in illinois. “of course i do.” dean says, and that reassures him more than anything else, because of course cas would show up there. “i’m on the way, just- just stay there, okay? is it still warded?”

“yes, but dean.” cas says.

dean’s heart sinks. “what?”

“could you bring me some clothes?” he asks, and dean almost laughs with relief. “the empty was a little reluctant to let me go.”

“yeah, i can- yeah. talk to jack while i get them.” he says, and hands the phone off to jack, who eagerly takes it. “jack, catch him up.”

“cas!” jack says, his voice so light it makes dean smile as he turns to his dresser.

jack talks to him, sounding more like just their kid than a god, all the way through dean explaining to sam and packing everything in baby’s backseat and getting on the road.

“i’ll tell dean.” jack says, finally, and dean tunes back in.

“what?” he asks, trying not to let himself worry but failing, because it’s just hit him that something else could go wrong, or even if it doesn’t, cas could have any amount of things to say to him right now.

jack says, “his phone is about to die.”

dean’s heart stops skipping beats. “oh. alright, well- here, tell him bye so i can talk to him. er- put it on speaker.”

jack pulls the phone away from his ear and fiddles with it for a second until he finds the speaker button. “okay, got it.”

“dean?” cas’s voice asks.

dean swears he can feel his heart rate slow. “hey. just hole up, okay? i’ll drive fast.”

“you know i could go.” jack offers innocently.

dean processes that and before he can say anything about how that’s a better idea and he wasn’t thinking straight, he stops himself. he doesn’t know why, but he has to do this. he doesn’t offer an explanation, just says, “no, jack, i… i gotta do my part. if cas is okay with waiting.” and hopes cas gets it even if dean himself doesn’t.

cas says, “of course i am. what’s a few more hours?”

dean steps a little harder on the gas, and says, “and jack’s gotta get used to being just a kid somehow.”

jack nods, looking out the window. “i just miss you.”

dean’s heart cracks open a little. he definitely knows the feeling.

there’s a smile in cas’s voice as he says, “i miss you too. you’ll be here soon.”

\---

the barn looks eerily the same as they pull up, and jack is out the door before baby’s even in park.

dean snorts and calls after him, “don’t get any of that empty gunk on your clothes, i only brought the one set!”

he pulls the bag from the backseat and takes a deep breath to steel himself. it’s like last time, where he’s so thrilled that it’s turning to anxiety, except this time he’s trying to figure out if cas is going to expect a response yet. he tightens his hand around the bag’s strap and steps toward the open barn door.

cas is just releasing jack from a hug. he looks up and spots dean coming in and his face softens and dean’s heart pinches again, and he can’t help the grin on his face. “cas.”

“hello, dean.” cas smiles back.

dean can’t help it- he can just clean baby when they get home. he steps up and pulls cas into a bone-crushing hug, just holding him there, making sure this isn’t a dream.

cas’s arms eventually loosen and dean steps back. cas smiles a little crookedly at the gunk on dean’s shirt and says, “well, still not quite as bad as mine.”

dean looks down and sees that not only is cas drenched in the stuff, but his clothes are all torn like the empty had sunk its claws in before he got pulled away. he holds up the bag, finally, and says, “well, i hope these’re okay.”

cas takes the bag and nods. “they’ll be fine. do you, uh… did you bring any food?”

it takes a second for the meaning to hit dean. “you’re human?”

cas looks down at his hands. “the empty kept my grace.”

dean stares. “are you- are you okay?”

“i’ve been human before.” cas shrugs. “i’ll get used to it again.”

dean thinks of last time and guilt pools in his stomach. “we’ll help.” he says, firmly. “i’ll- lemme grab you something to eat.”

he returns to baby and grabs the bag of chips he let jack bring one of the last few times they drove together, and by the time he gets back to the barn cas has changed.

dean’s brain short-circuits, a little. cas is wearing his clothes.  _ his _ sweatpants,  _ his _ favorite old hoodie with the torn seam in the sleeve,  _ his _ styx t-shirt with the faded design,  _ his _ stupid patterned socks he’d picked up on a whim. he opens his mouth and no sound comes out.

jack notices him- he’s still sitting with his back turned because he’s been told before that it’s the polite thing to do. he says, “cas likes cheetos?”

cas looks up and dean doesn’t have enough time to school his face into any other expression. cas squints a little, like he’s thinking, and then says, “i’m not sure.”

dean recovers enough to say, finally, “just until we get back on the road and find a drive-thru.”

cas nods and steps back into his grimy shoes. he takes the bag from dean and says, “thank you.”

dean can tell he means it for more than just the chips.

\---

they’re almost home. jack is curled up in the backseat in a way that makes dean think of when sam was younger, and he cracks a smile.

he chances a look over at cas, and finds he’s looking out his window, eyes half closed. dean’s heart jumps again as he takes in this new sight- cas,  _ in dean’s clothes _ , falling asleep in baby’s passenger seat. he feels the way his face heats up and he’s glad cas isn’t looking, because he’s cas and he’d probably be able to tell even though it’s dark.

he looks back at the road.

they haven’t talked about it yet. dean doesn’t know where to start, and he’s spent weeks trying to find the right words but nothing ever sounds right.

“you know,” cas says, and dean startles. he looks over and cas is staring at him, blinking in surprise at his surprise.

“still got it, i guess.” dean snorts.

cas smiles, a tiny thing mostly in his eyes. “i was going to comment on how strange it is. the dean and castiel that met in that barn- they could never have imagined this.”

dean breathes out slowly as he thinks on that. “yeah. you know what, though?”

cas  _ hm _ s, and dean can hear the sleepiness creeping into his voice. it makes his heart jump again.

“it feels right  _ now _ , right? so i don’t think those poor bastards from ten years ago have much room to complain. they get their happy ending. chuck’s gone, we’re all here. if they don’t like it they can shove it.”

dean chances another glance over at cas and sees him looking down at his hands, that same small smile on his face as he tugs at the loose string in the sleeve of dean’s hoodie.

when cas doesn’t answer, dean finally adds, “don’t fall asleep, alright? we’re almost home and i’d feel like a shithead waking you up.”

cas snorts. “alright.”

they drive in silence and dean can’t help but smile when he discovers that cas apparently snores.


End file.
